Whistleblowing Component Under Fire
Texas lawmakers intentionally crafted the abortion ban to make court challenges difficult. Typically, challenges involve suing the government official charged with enforcement. But Texas places enforcement powers with citizens, including those with no vested interest in a particular individual’s effort to seek an abortion. As a result, anyone who helps finance the procedure or drives someone to a clinic may be liable. Informants who sue successfully can be awarded at least $10,000.
A whistleblower website now accepts “anonymous tips” related to the Texas ban. Some abortion advocates are encouraging people to submit false information there to “help crash this website.”
Although a dozen other states had passed early-pregnancy abortion bans, courts had blocked them all. In a statement praising the Texas ban, the Pro-Life Action League encourages “the other 49 states to catch up with Texas and continue this historic expansion of human rights.”
On social media, Ed Stetzer offers this reminder: “The US has some of the most extreme abortion laws in the world, aligned w/ only 6 other nations,” including North Korea and China. He links to a Washington Post fact-check report, confirming that America is one of only seven countries that permit elective abortions after the 20-week pregnancy mark.
